sweden shenanigans, pt 1.

been awhile since i blogged, although i've been playing with the idea of a travelogue (that will probably only materialise in my dreams)

so let's just put on some stuff that's interesting (and perhaps informative) for future exchang-ers as well.



not ordinary white bread you see back home. comes with a mean expiry date (often 1 week), and available in (most commonly) 600g packs. Means you wolf down 4 to 6 pieces a day if you don't want it to go bad.

the cheapest brand is eldorado, which is a budget brand we're making fast friends with.



mr milk also comes with a great price to pay. even though it's very much cheaper than the watery milk we have in SG. (1+SGD/litre) dairy products expire DAMN fast, even though there are opportunities to pick up half-prices for almost-expiring or expired ones (which i'm not gonna try).



the siemens stove we have in the accommodation. runs on electricity, which is good (and bad). i suppose you can't have a closed room filled with gas anyway. but the oven is always good (since i've never used one) for food experiments, like grilled chicken, grilled hotdogs, grilled meatballs...



corn. you don't have a lot of vegetables here in ulu Jonkoping. only broccoli (green and white, for variety), some peas, carrots, and frozen stuff. corn is only available frozen and their texture is.... smudgy. Very very soft yucky corn. Or maybe i just cook too long. not cheap too, even for frozen ones.



weird minty vegetable. unknown thingy, but apparently it's part of a soup mix. tastes like carrot, but don't think it's white carrot leh. in any case, some potatoes also taste minty.



Rice! Not cheap here, at 4-5SGD/kg. It's really 粒粒皆辛苦. Although you do find rice cookers as cheap as 60 SGD, super cheapo me prefer to steam rice and chicken instead. The only hard part is defrosting, which takes A LOT of time. And also the metal stand, which I'm still unable to find, so i get lots of ceramic marks on my pot.



Sauces! No Chinese (and sometimes Western) dishes are complete without a hell lot of condiments. BBQ (for marinating grilled stuff), oyster sauce , pepper, soya sauce, salt, sugar (which can all be bought here), and MSG (which i haven't seen - maybe not looking out for it)

Just bought starch powder today, which means no more watery 'zup' from vegetables! Yay! Tempted to buy 麻油, but seems to be more limited, for rice, chicken, and instant noodles.

Speaking of which, one of the best instant noodle brands Nissin can be bought here, but for 1.4SGD per packet. Compare that to the 6 pack in SG, for 2+SGD. Daylight robbery, but oh well. Time to gam with the Cantonese owner....



crazy weather for nighttime jonkoping today. the floor is icy and i keep feeling cold drafts at my feet. apparently the room isn't airtight enough and lets cold air from outside in. free aircon.

shall never complain that marina square is cold again.

it's been tough.

never been one to wish out loud, but i hope life goes easier on me, starting from tomorrow. else, i'll have to content myself thinking that everything has a reason (which is obvious crap - some things surely can be spared 'the experience').

not yet gone.

It's less than 1 week till I fly off. But the feeling of both anticipation and apprehension makes for a disconcerting feeling to swallow. The unknown is always a terrible factor to handle, given how much I like to source for as much information as possible, and the uber ulu Jonkoping doesn't offer too much of that.

But then again, it's been a fun affair learning how to put my OCD tendencies to good use. Learning how to pack the right way, source out the good deals, learn cooking and choosing food, as well as the ins and outs of visa bureaucracy.

Anyway, on to lighter stuff. Here's tips that I've amassed from exchange preparation!

1. Money exchanging
Seems like the Arcade at Raffles Place and Mustafa is the way to go. Remember to check online Google rates before you go, and check the rates for multiple changers. Flaws in the free market at the arcade still exist for some reason (possibly a cartel?). Also, a long queue does not always mean great rates.

USD and Euros rates are more or less equivalent to Google rates. Rare currencies such as Swedish Krona has a significant discrepancy, but bo bian. Even rarer ones (such as Czech Krona) is unavailable, even at the airport. Most people will change for USD instead (easily convertible, even in Europe)

When withdrawing money overseas, a good card to use is the UOB Campus Debit Visa. Allows 3 free withdrawals monthly (otherwise it's 5 SGD a pop). Most withdrawals conversion are done by converting the home currency to USD, then from USD to SGD. Thus, you suffer twice.

2. Winterwear
Uniqlo turtle necks are good at ten bucks a pop. Adidas winterwear from Korea can be sought out at Song&Song (with outlets in AMK, TPY, Jurong East, Clementi) at 50 apiece. Timberland winter boots are available at up to 70% off at the Timberland Outlet store.

3. Packing
Vacuum packs work wonders for saving space. That and heat packs of 5 are available at Daiso for 2 apiece.

4. Communication
Phoenix Comms is great for cheap calls from Singapore to abroad numbers.
Voipstunt - Free internet calls from foreign countries to Singapore at a rate of 10 EUR for 120 days!

Hopefully, this will prove to be good information for future Googlers going for exchange. Makes life SOOOO much easier if you have all this information.

gobbledydook.

tik-tock, the clock in the background
(why'd most poems begin with sounds, sighs or frowns)
no matter, it'll get better
or it'll clink-clunk straight to the gutter.

not ruby red, but jaded green
if only things were as it seemed
how many ticks, how many sounds
sixty-seven? nah, i've lost count.

puncture me, dear hyphen-
at least you're something i can discern
from the mish-mash of commas, full-stops,
jumble of half-told tales and flops.

gimme inspiration, something like plaith
nay, not the thrice-damned galbraith
always wanted to write about a rook
all the other pieces, i suppose, you took.

so here it ends
stapled incoherence bends
curse sticky-notes, save the stitch
knowledge is a cold-weathered bitch.

aircon and its perils.

sbs employee #1: eh brudder, how should we go about doing the Jurong Point AIRCON interchange ah?
sbs employee #2: dunno leh, aiya, actually very simple one. just put aircon and sliding doors (that might or might not work) can liao. Singaporeans (and other nationalities) very impressed by those high-tech looking things one.
#1: ya hor, and then i just put somemore land space filled with nothing to make it Singapore's biggest AIRCON interchange! wah lau, sure very popular one.
#2: then we put single entry and exit lanes for the buses, and we rotate some bus services so they do a pointless roundabout the entire Jurong Point and the old interchange! wah lau eh, Singaporeans sure love us for this! Extra 10 minutes in an AIRCON bus for FREE leh! and then and then, so many buses and so little lanes, sure jam, then the interchange sure look damn popular with people!
#1: then the bus services that ply the industrial estates and dormitories how ah? since they're 'different' and create long queues, why not transfer them to the old interchange....
#2: shhhhh! so xenophobic! sure kenna whack one! we transfer the ntu buses la! students only mah. they also always so long queue, make so much noise. we achieve the same effect but with less bad press! AHHHH!
#1: then hor, i noticed that the Boon Lay residents have so many bus services available to them! how can? you heard of tyrannry of the majority a not! wah liew so many choices wait they cannot make any! then they miss bus! then they die!
#2: ya! so let's remove 2 of the 4 existing services ok! let them PASS THROUGH THE ROUTE BUT NOT STOP THERE. then the residents will not take SBS for granted liao. they think Singapore so connected without us meh! Also, then next time gahmen can restore the old services as the elections carrot!
#1: ya ya! budden, we cannot be so unfair, wait people write to forums. so let's just remove the services going to the AIRCON interchange from that bus stop, budden for the opposite bus stop, we DON'T TOUCH! Creative solution right? Wah lau, upper management will surely love us for this!

stop screwing around with 'innovations' and 'service enhancements' and gimme back what worked in the past, SBS.

chinese opera.

from whence did the suona
begin their song
clashing cymbals heralding
the curtain draw?

whereupon did we adopt
roles of sheng and dan
speak in sing-song vernacular
and walk the pretentious gait?

did we roll up our water sleeves
to draw the false rouge red?
or was it to prune
the wretched pheasant feather hat?

if only we could tell
sharp eyebrow from
withered frown.

(but we didn't)
and so we circle the motions,
a linear timeline.
tri-sided relationships
paraded on rectangle stage

how we turn our backs
only to stare at
the once-familiar, once-detested, once-contemptuous,
the once-upon-a-time.

'do i know you?'
cue the endless tragedy of the deja vu.

metahegemony.

you know the world has gone to nuts when the elitists find nothing better to do than to critique their own.

not the guy in the bowler hat.

As much as it's useful to claim some sort of portfolio (i have none, still), it's more important to quell an interesting rumour (and the resulting implications on my political leanings) and also to have peace of mind at night.

So, here goes: i'm not the kj on toc.

There are some similarities in prose and style (he does have a fiery breath which i lost somewhere transversing youth), but I'm too old and cynical to write pure dissident posts and take up the mantle of change (or liberty. or freedom. or whatever else high-minded tenet). But i can't bring myself to critique his work, because that would incur the armchair sin.

Ok, no need to fear the knocks on my door now. :)

strangely fitting.

i write obituaries. if you need an eulogy, go find someone else.

just noodling.

something that flew out of just noodles. very raw, but we prefer to proclaim the freshness of the words themselves.

stilettos, twice removed
so does your height betray you
but your appearance rings true
to the bells of your soul
how-do-you-do.

the weathers, fine.
i hope you see it, true and through
don't follow, follow me.
as i skip to the loo.
all i am, you gobble, gobbledygook.

you live life in a reflector
strapped to earth, naked wings, nestled poo.
where the lights light too, too bright for you
step back before you break apart,
bones & sinew.

on the woodchipper's block
chop chop chop chops of you
your barbed-wire heart, we melt in devil's brew
and then piece it whole anew
demon girl, you are your own peril.

train to Auschwitz
for your life, inferior and skewed.
enjoy that breath of fresh air,
lest I beat you like a red-headed Jew
or march you down to the Maginot Line,
like that kiddy game you play,
(Pew-pew-pew.)

all the world's a stage, baby
but hey, you're not Shakespeare's fool
nay, no fool like you waxes lyrics.
you're a Tussuad's child waxen, a Greek statue
with two full centuries to pursue

goodbye-see-you
the choir invisible has sung
so the curtain must too.
you have no understudy, lady
Tragic-comedy, there's no number two.